Me too. There's a 1300 GSA under there somewhere.

You'd be miserable too if it kept trying to spit you off. Whit in the pits, in both senses, Donington 1999, on Roberts' Modenas KR3. Had a better time at the same track, same year, on an R6.

Bad Photoshop R1300 RS v the real thing. Close enough.

This is the 46th Bol d’Or at Paul Ricard, Sept 1982, beautifully shot by PB’s (then Motorcycle Mechanics’) technical editor John Robinson. 100,000 crowd taking every vantage point. Pre-race entertainment by Kawasaki’s KDX450. Nice shoes, nice whiskey-throttle. Bike looks like an animal.

Going in deep on Honda's CB1000 Hornet and Hornet SP over at @bennettsinsurance.bsky.social YouTube channel; give it a whirl by all means. youtu.be/OKtKipglCPo?...

A rare vintage glimpse inside Honda’s R&D centre in Osaka from 1981, with a CX500 Turbo on the dyno. Enjoying the foot pedal controls – presumably clutch, brake & throttle, with gear changes via the joystick? Love the computer tape spools too, on the right. Very Gerry Anderson.

BMW announced new R1300 R today – new 1300 motor in same spec as 1300 GS, sportier dynamic. But what about the R1300 RS*? Watch that space, I guess. Hope it's got flat bars & bigger tank. *some Photoshop may have been used in this pic. Not AI, mind, just cut & paste 😊

Help please camera bods. Got a Sony A6700 for 4k at 120fps, & Sandisk V90 SD card from Amazon (link below). But the camera says the card's not quick enough to record 4k etc (I formatted). Ran a test on the card (see pic). Is it fake or am I doing something wrong? www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08YF7PB1...

First Hornets of the year arrived in my garden, courtesy of @bennettsinsurance.bsky.social and #ridemagazine

Top tip: don't put unleaded in a T5 diesel 😑

FINAL CALL! Come ride Scotland with @sihbikes.bsky.social & me on FEC Highland Fling #2 Arrive Tues 6th May, spend 3 mind-blowing days riding the best of Scotland, leave Sat 10th May. Great roads, great scenery, great company. Don't miss out - bookings close tomoz (Fri 7th Mar) 👉 bit.ly/fecfling2

Latest Front End Chatter wiv me & @mufga.bsky.social out now for listen &/or download directly from @bennettsinsurance.bsky.social Cut & paste into yer browser: www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/n...

Woah, turn down the dental brightness! Turkey Teeth central. And I speak as someone who's spent the day watching a video with my own tombstones gyrating like a disco graveyard. So, how much does it cost?

I shall watch Season Three with even more appreciation.

C'mon asshole, you've done this before.

*Promenade Percy*: Slang (UK), circa 1910, for a noisy, antisocial motorcyclist.

"The harmony of blending a bike into heavy traffic, making progress with daring, beautiful efficiency, is like waltzing though an artillery barrage with military precision" – unknown author, 1950s Motorcycling magazine

This shop goes up to 11.

Does this make any sense? Out on a new bike recently & it was v good. But on reflection it all felt a bit CGI, as if someone asked Photoshop for an AI of a motorbike. Maybe it was the electronics - deep semi active & engine management - and Euro5. I ended up impressed, but also feeling a bit gaslit.

Riding no. 11 tomorrow, at the launch of Ducati's 2025 Multistrada V2 S - 1st go on the new 890cc V-twin (lightest V they've built, apparently). Lots to 🗣️ - new engine, chassis, ergos, electronics. For next week's MCN & if you miss it, it'll be in Bike mag shortly afterwards. So no excuses.

This guy stared at me the entire way from DC to LA and I was convinced he was going to follow me and kill me before I realized his sunglasses were just on the back of his head.

Status update: still don't smell like fags.

Speaking of bargains, here's another one. Er... 🤔

Holy crap, @ducatiuk.bsky.social's new Multistrada V2 is amazing value! Definitely snap one up before they're gone 😆

KTM have a mountain of debt. At today's insolvency hearing, we learned the following: - KTM owe nearly €2.4 billion - nearly 1400 people have lost their jobs - 23 investors are interested - The restructuring plan will probably be accepted. motomatters.com/news/2025/01...

Old Bike magazine feature from 2009 showing how not to lay out a double slalom course. And how a Tony Hoare on a Street Triple out-turns SiH on a K1300S. Filmed by @mufga.bsky.social using a Nokia potato.

Hello moi luverly FECers & welcome to Front End Chatter E208: lots of motorcycle-related podcast chat via him, @mufga.bsky.social, & me. Also, come ride Scotland's Greatest Hits with the gang in May – details here: bit.ly/fecfling2 www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/n...

Someone pointed out last year the X logo was as close to a swastika as Musk could get without it actually being a swastika. At the time I thought they were being metaphorical; turns it was literal.

Didn't take long.

If, like me, you were wondering how the US could vote the orange turd back into office four years after voting him out, here's your answer.

Watching ToTPs from 1990 and definitely do not recommend working out how old some of the artists were back then compared to how old you are now. Tina Turner was 50 Elton John was 42 etc Guess my time has passed for having a hit single.

If I was independently wealthy I'd buy: 1) some bikes 2) more basses 3) a cool garden office 4) whatever the fuck I wanted after that so fuck you, hater 5) power This is why there should be a limit; it'd be better for everyone.

Muskulinity (/ˌmuskjʊˈlɪnɪti/) – noun Qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of man-babies. "Shallow, insecure, arrogant, egocentric, narcissistic, megalomaniacal, aggressively ill-informed and venal, he's a prime example of Muskulinity"

Just watched this pigeon absolutely stuff its face with peanuts from my bird feeder and it now looks how I felt after a Five Guys last night.

Wrote this 15 years ago today re the S1000RR: "We, this golden generation of bikers, are entering a brave new world in which electronic management takes what we do to a different level. Traction control bridges the gap between the kind of riders we are and the kind of riders we want to be." 🤮🤦‍♂️ ffs

This one go boing.

Going to look at a bike tomorrow. It's long, low, German, shift-driven, 4 cylinders, cruise, heated seats & grips, panniers, 130bhp, electric screen and 18k miles.

Front End Chatter E207 is out bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/features/podcasts/fec-episode-207, feat. a dive into January 2005 via Bike magazine with @mufga.bsky.social If you'd asked me in 2005 if I'd be doing a podcast about it in 20 years' time, I'd have said, "What's a podcast?"

I wanted Marlboro Reds, but this was all they had 💨

I think it's important to separate 'skills' from 'attitude'. Would you rather go pillion with a less skilled rider but who knows it, or a more skilled rider who thinks it won't happen to them? Our riding ability may not be as connected to our safety as we think - but *how* we think, is.

A graph I just completely made up.

My riding philosophy:

Feature idea: what have we learned? If you've ridden for 30+ years & passed through the sportsbike thing, & evolved onto adventure bikes, maxi-scoots, nakeds, classics, whatever – what've you learned about *riding*? How have you changed as a rider, philosophically (attitude) & literally (technique)?

Have to share this because it's absolutely spellbinding and left me breathless. Jacob Collier is an unalloyed genius. This was the first time they'd performed & only met that day. youtu.be/kgVRqM_PT5k?...

That time in 2012 when a bunch of ladies out touring in Scotland bumped into this fella out for a blast.

Outstanding reverse psychology advertising by Bike magazine in 1972 (guessing it was conceived by founding editor Mark Williams) – but over the years it's probably been accurate a few times as well (like the mid-90s, when Bike was mostly staffed by braying, white-collar hoo-rays 😆)

I know it's nerdy but found this by chance in a parts catalogue for the R1250 GSA v R1300 GSA. Not mentioned in the press bumf, but the 1250 is conventionally wound, 1300 is variable for non-linear spring rate. Not new, but new to the GS. Feels like it would've been significant to know this, once.

PB knee slider tests absolutely were not an excuse to spend a day lapping Orton Malborne roundabout. Points for naming them (apart from the grey slider, far left, middle row; it was a Robbo special, I think). Bonus points if you can guess which one is still in my garage, 30 years later.

Thank you 2024 #2

Thank you 2024 #1